JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Data sharing plays a crucial role in health informatics, contributing to improving health information system, enhancing operational efficiency, informing policy and decision-making, and advancing public health surveillance including disease tracking. Sharing individual participant data in public, environmental and occupational health trials can help improve public trust and support by enhancing transparent reporting and reproducibility of research findings. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires all manuscripts to include a data sharing statement. However, it is unclear whether journals in the field of public, environmental and occupational health adhere to this requirement.

Objective:

To investigate whether public, environmental and occupational health journals requested data sharing statements from clinical trials submitted for publication.

Methods:

In this bibliometric survey of “Public, Environmental & Occupational Health” journals, defined by the Journal Citation Reports (as of June 2023), we included 202 journals with clinical trial reports published between 2019 and 2022. Primary outcome was journal request for a data sharing statement, as identified on the manuscript submission instructions. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between journal characteristics and journal request for data sharing statements, with results presented as odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). We also investigated whether the journals included a data sharing statement in their published trial reports.

Results:

Among the 202 public, environmental and occupational health journals included, there were 68 (33.7%) journals that did not request data sharing statements. Factors significantly associated with journal request for data sharing statements included open access status (OR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.19 - 0.97), high Journal Impact Factor (OR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.15 - 4.78), endorsement of CONSORT (OR = 2.43, 95% CI: 1.25 - 4.79) and publication in the UK (OR = 7.18, 95% CI: 2.61 - 23.4). Among the 134 journals requesting data sharing statements, 26.9% (36/134) did not have statements in their published trial reports.

Conclusions:

Over one third of the public, environmental and occupational health journals did not request data sharing statements in clinical trial reports. Among those journals that requested data sharing statements in their submission guidance pages, more than one quarter published trial reports with no data sharing statements. These results revealed an inadequate practice of requesting data sharing statements by public, environmental and occupational health journals, requiring more efforts at the journal level to implement ICJME recommendations on data sharing statements.